We nearly didn't get a boat trip today - the boat refused to start, so we all traipsed back to the house whilst Joan tried to fix it. Joan quickly came up with an alternative plan to keep us volunteers happy - a trip to Lefkada - but one new battery later, the boat was as good as new! Cindy and friend kept us entertained for a while - coming really close until we had cameras ready, then disappearing completely until we put them away again!
Success at last - Joan managed to get a skin sample (although he missed a couple of relatively easy opportunities as well!). Another good sighting - lots of aerial behaviour, stationary behaviour, percussive behaviour, spy-hopping etc etc!
We had lunch out today - at Niko's (the rendezvous for the project) - a few traditional Greek starters again then pitas. Then we had an afternoon of completing the matching from yesterday...
Joan has been giving lectures and showing videos most evenings, but as we've seen most of them twice before we've carried on matching instead. But tonight, he wanted to show us some photos from July, where they came across a dolphin with a new-born that had died - the mother kept pushing her baby around, keeping it afloat. Very harrowing photos, but also very interesting.
Claire is cooking another cheesecake tonight (with some help from Elaine!) - she thinks she's got the right ingredients this time. Given how nice the first one was, tonight's should be really good! She's also taking her DIY air conditioning very seriously - preparing extra ice, a planned program of putting the ice in the room earlier... - we'll see whether it makes any difference!!!
Monday 27 August 2007
Day 6 (continued)
Several hours later, we finally finished grouping the sighting - 7 dolphins, including 3 very plain ones. After a quick shower, we then went to Remezzo's for dinner - some traditional Greek starters (tzatsiki, saganaki, aubergine and courgette croquettes) and moussaka for main course - very nice!
Claire had a "good" idea to try to cool down our room - put bowls of ice around the fan, so the fan is blowing around colder air. No-one's too sure about the theory, or in fact whether it worked in practice - everyone seemed to sleep a little better tonight, but it was still very hot and sticky!!!
Claire had a "good" idea to try to cool down our room - put bowls of ice around the fan, so the fan is blowing around colder air. No-one's too sure about the theory, or in fact whether it worked in practice - everyone seemed to sleep a little better tonight, but it was still very hot and sticky!!!
Sunday 26 August 2007
Day 6
A fantastic sighting today, many dolphins, all very active. Richard finally got a turn with our new camera and made up for lost time by taking nearly 400 photos! This was easily the best sighting we've had in any of our 3 teams - the dolphins were jumping all over the place, feeding, socialising... We also saw 2 turtles in the harbour again, although as usual (and unlike Cindy's namesake Ms Crawford) they seemed pretty camera shy!
We've just finished cropping our share of the pictures - we had 128 photos to do (Joan took over 400 but not even Joan gets perfect photos every time!). Now they're just preparing an earlier sighting for us to match...
We've just finished cropping our share of the pictures - we had 128 photos to do (Joan took over 400 but not even Joan gets perfect photos every time!). Now they're just preparing an earlier sighting for us to match...
Day 5
No dolphins today!!!! However, we did at least see a few sea turtles... We did the fish farm survey today, which involves driving veerrrrry slowly along various fish farms in the gulf, checking for dolphins - but there weren't any today. We had a brief stop in Preveza for a drink (as the end of the survey is close to Preveza) - last time we were in Preveza we saw 4 turtles from the bar, but no such luck this time!
More photo-ID in the afternoon - a tricky sighting with several similar and very lightly marked animals. We managed to match 11 out of 16, which we were pretty pleased with (the other 5 were virtually unmarked, although Eli later managed to match a couple more).
It was Elaine and Claire's turn for evening meal tonight - onion pie and strawberry cheesecake for desert. Claire was a bit OCD about how they'd turn out and thought the cheesecake was way too sweet (some of the ingredients were a bit lucky dip as we couldn't work out exactly what the label meant) but everyone seemed to really like it (Richard mopped up all the remnants!). It's Lauren and Richard's turn tomorrow, so by mutual consent we're going to Remezzo's for dinner!
More photo-ID in the afternoon - a tricky sighting with several similar and very lightly marked animals. We managed to match 11 out of 16, which we were pretty pleased with (the other 5 were virtually unmarked, although Eli later managed to match a couple more).
It was Elaine and Claire's turn for evening meal tonight - onion pie and strawberry cheesecake for desert. Claire was a bit OCD about how they'd turn out and thought the cheesecake was way too sweet (some of the ingredients were a bit lucky dip as we couldn't work out exactly what the label meant) but everyone seemed to really like it (Richard mopped up all the remnants!). It's Lauren and Richard's turn tomorrow, so by mutual consent we're going to Remezzo's for dinner!
Friday 24 August 2007
Day 4
Another great boat trip today - seems a common theme! Again, no dolphins on the transect, but loads of them shortly afterwards. After quite some time recording group size data, Joan decided to try again for the skin sample - but again without success, the dolphins just didn't want to bowride today. Very hot today - definitely the hottest day so far.
We (or at least Richard) saw 2 turtles on the trip today - then when we arrived back in port, the resident turtle (Cindy) paid us a visit - long enough to get a good view of quite how large she is, but just short enough to get away before we had the camera ready! She then hovered for ages just far enough away so that we couldn't get a decent photo...
After lunch we decided to show Claire the island (connected to the mainland by a slightly strange bridge). Perhaps not the wisest decision given how hot it was, but a chocolate chip milkshake soon cooled us down. Then back to the house for photo-ID - Joan asked us to match another June siting, with 180 photos! Quite a few were straightforward, but there were a load of very similar photos...
Our dinner last night went down well, particularly with Posie - he went mental when he smelled the meat, refused to eat any of his own food all night, then cleared his dish very thoroughly when he was given some leftovers!
We (or at least Richard) saw 2 turtles on the trip today - then when we arrived back in port, the resident turtle (Cindy) paid us a visit - long enough to get a good view of quite how large she is, but just short enough to get away before we had the camera ready! She then hovered for ages just far enough away so that we couldn't get a decent photo...
After lunch we decided to show Claire the island (connected to the mainland by a slightly strange bridge). Perhaps not the wisest decision given how hot it was, but a chocolate chip milkshake soon cooled us down. Then back to the house for photo-ID - Joan asked us to match another June siting, with 180 photos! Quite a few were straightforward, but there were a load of very similar photos...
Our dinner last night went down well, particularly with Posie - he went mental when he smelled the meat, refused to eat any of his own food all night, then cleared his dish very thoroughly when he was given some leftovers!
Thursday 23 August 2007
Day 3
Another great dolphin sighting today - but we had to wait a while!
We started off with the same transect as yesterday (as we didn't complete it due to the choppy water). Luckily the weather was much better today, but we didn't see any dolphins on the first transect. Or the second. Or the third...
At this point, Joan decided to gradually head for home. After a drive past of the fish farms (no dolphins, but a strong smell of decaying fish!) Joan spotted a couple of dolphins in the distance - so again we started to record the group size data (Richard's turn to use the PDA today). The dolphins were not especially co-operative - they didn't want to play and after an hour or so we left them to get on with their lives and headed home.
A few minutes later we spotted a much bigger group - 20-30 dolphins, very active! Lots of very impressive jumps, socialising, feeding etc. As they were so playful (lots of bowriding) Joan decided to try to get a skin sample (for DNA analysis) - Joan prefers the least invasive approach, using the highest technology - a washing up scourer on a pole! Unfortunately the dolphins weren't too keen today - most of the dolphins were bowriding too deep in the water, and the only one keeping within reach was a juvenile (and Joan doesn't like to disturb the juveniles).
After quite a few attempts Joan gave up and we headed for home - getting back around 1pm, which is much later than usual. A quick drink in Remezzo's (where else!) then lunch. After a quick break (during which we downloaded photos from our camera - see earlier post for link) it was time for photo-ID.
As "experienced" photo-IDers we started straightaway on matching a photo-set from a June team, whilst the other volunteers practised cropping and then matched today's pictures (relatively few photos and only 3 dolphins). Our set was a little trickier - about 12 dolphins, including a few very marginal pictures (far away or slightly out of focus). We could only match 3 of them - the rest were either too plain or too hard to identify. Joan then showed the other volunteers a video on "Dolphin People" - but as we'd already seen this 3 times we decided to spent the time getting our blog up to date!
It's our turn to cook tonight - Elaine has been very prepared and decided in advance that we'd cook shepherd's pie (and even went to the effort of bringing our own gravy!). Richard's contribution was to peel the potatoes and carrots and grate the cheese - obviously the most vital components! Let's see how it turns out...
We started off with the same transect as yesterday (as we didn't complete it due to the choppy water). Luckily the weather was much better today, but we didn't see any dolphins on the first transect. Or the second. Or the third...
At this point, Joan decided to gradually head for home. After a drive past of the fish farms (no dolphins, but a strong smell of decaying fish!) Joan spotted a couple of dolphins in the distance - so again we started to record the group size data (Richard's turn to use the PDA today). The dolphins were not especially co-operative - they didn't want to play and after an hour or so we left them to get on with their lives and headed home.
A few minutes later we spotted a much bigger group - 20-30 dolphins, very active! Lots of very impressive jumps, socialising, feeding etc. As they were so playful (lots of bowriding) Joan decided to try to get a skin sample (for DNA analysis) - Joan prefers the least invasive approach, using the highest technology - a washing up scourer on a pole! Unfortunately the dolphins weren't too keen today - most of the dolphins were bowriding too deep in the water, and the only one keeping within reach was a juvenile (and Joan doesn't like to disturb the juveniles).
After quite a few attempts Joan gave up and we headed for home - getting back around 1pm, which is much later than usual. A quick drink in Remezzo's (where else!) then lunch. After a quick break (during which we downloaded photos from our camera - see earlier post for link) it was time for photo-ID.
As "experienced" photo-IDers we started straightaway on matching a photo-set from a June team, whilst the other volunteers practised cropping and then matched today's pictures (relatively few photos and only 3 dolphins). Our set was a little trickier - about 12 dolphins, including a few very marginal pictures (far away or slightly out of focus). We could only match 3 of them - the rest were either too plain or too hard to identify. Joan then showed the other volunteers a video on "Dolphin People" - but as we'd already seen this 3 times we decided to spent the time getting our blog up to date!
It's our turn to cook tonight - Elaine has been very prepared and decided in advance that we'd cook shepherd's pie (and even went to the effort of bringing our own gravy!). Richard's contribution was to peel the potatoes and carrots and grate the cheese - obviously the most vital components! Let's see how it turns out...
Day 2 - Our first trip
After a good night's sleep, we woke up at 6:30 ready for breakfast (cereal, fresh figs, cookies, home baked muffins) then left for the boat for the first trip of the team. The staff normally drive to the boat - it's not far, but Joan's excuse is that the equipment is very heavy... - however, the car failed to start so they had to walk too!
Luckily the boat did start! and after a few minutes' preparation we were on our way.
We were starting off with the transect furthest away from Vonitsa, about an hour's journey away. For the last 10 minutes, Joan makes you close your eyes (or at least only look inside the boat) to avoid introducing any biases (eg if you see dolphins half a kilometre from the transect, people are more likely to look in that direction). By the time we reached the transect, the sea was a little rough - not dangerous rough (or even uncomfortable rough), but rough enough to diminish the likelihood of recording good data. So, part way through the transect we gave up on the transect and moved to "ad libitum" - so if we do see dolphins we record less data. The sea became increasingly rough, but eventually we did see dolphins - a group of at least 30! (This is apparently pretty typical at this time of year - it's the mating season so the dolphins are socialising a lot and tend to be harder to find, but in bigger groups when you do find them).
We followed the dolphins for a couple of hours, recording group size data (the number of dolphins in the "focal group", ie the particular dolphins Joan decides to concentrate on) and data on "dolphins in sight" (dolphins a little further away) every 5 minutes on the PDA (handheld computer).
Eventually Joan decided we had collected enough data for one morning, so we returned to Vonitsa for lunch - a quick drink in Remezzo's (still no chocolate milkshakes!) then lunch in the house - leftover pasta, fresh pies and salad. Then we had a couple of hours free time, so we decided to show Claire Vonitsa Castle - great views of the sea (although the castle is under repair so you can't go too far up - the views get better the further you go!). Then another quick trip to Remezzo's - still no chocolate milkshake so we try a mint chocolate chip milkshake - very nice!
From 4pm, we had a quick training session on photo cropping (the first stage of the photo-ID process) then cropped the photos Joan took in the morning. After another short break, Joan gave us a lecture on the project and the research; then it was time for dinner (Malvina's pizza - very yummy!) and bed!
Luckily the boat did start! and after a few minutes' preparation we were on our way.
We were starting off with the transect furthest away from Vonitsa, about an hour's journey away. For the last 10 minutes, Joan makes you close your eyes (or at least only look inside the boat) to avoid introducing any biases (eg if you see dolphins half a kilometre from the transect, people are more likely to look in that direction). By the time we reached the transect, the sea was a little rough - not dangerous rough (or even uncomfortable rough), but rough enough to diminish the likelihood of recording good data. So, part way through the transect we gave up on the transect and moved to "ad libitum" - so if we do see dolphins we record less data. The sea became increasingly rough, but eventually we did see dolphins - a group of at least 30! (This is apparently pretty typical at this time of year - it's the mating season so the dolphins are socialising a lot and tend to be harder to find, but in bigger groups when you do find them).
We followed the dolphins for a couple of hours, recording group size data (the number of dolphins in the "focal group", ie the particular dolphins Joan decides to concentrate on) and data on "dolphins in sight" (dolphins a little further away) every 5 minutes on the PDA (handheld computer).
Eventually Joan decided we had collected enough data for one morning, so we returned to Vonitsa for lunch - a quick drink in Remezzo's (still no chocolate milkshakes!) then lunch in the house - leftover pasta, fresh pies and salad. Then we had a couple of hours free time, so we decided to show Claire Vonitsa Castle - great views of the sea (although the castle is under repair so you can't go too far up - the views get better the further you go!). Then another quick trip to Remezzo's - still no chocolate milkshake so we try a mint chocolate chip milkshake - very nice!
From 4pm, we had a quick training session on photo cropping (the first stage of the photo-ID process) then cropped the photos Joan took in the morning. After another short break, Joan gave us a lecture on the project and the research; then it was time for dinner (Malvina's pizza - very yummy!) and bed!
Photos!
We've uploaded some of the photos from our first couple of trips - see picasaweb.google.co.uk/rtypus and click on "Dolphins of Greece".
Wednesday 22 August 2007
Day 1 – At last we arrive!
Given that Claire and Richard are both a little OCD, we ended up setting 3 alarms for the morning – we were due to arrive at Igoumenitsa at 6am so we set 2 watch alarms and our mobile phone alarm for 5:30 am (after having checked with the purser that there was a one hour time difference). Since the mobile phone was still set to UK time, Richard set the alarm for 3:30 am. Unfortunately, the mobile phone subsequently adjusted itself for the time difference, so we were woken at 3:30 am Greek time!!!
Luckily we all got back to sleep, and woke up at 5:30 as planned. We heard the announcement that we were just about to arrive somewhere (we couldn’t actually understand the announcement…) so we put all our bags together and started to leave the room. Luckily (again) the purser pointed out that we had actually just arrived at Corfu….
So, after a quick granola bar for breakfast (the restaurant was, of course, closed…) we arrived in Igoumentisa shortly after 7am – and confirmed with the purser that this was definitely Igoumentisa!!! Only one stage of the journey left…
Our original plan was to get the bus from Igoumentisa to Lefkada, then taxi from Lefkada to Vonitsa (as we knew that the bus times from Lefkada wouldn’t get us to the rendezvous on time). We managed to find the bus station (turn left outside the ferry port and watch for the somewhat hidden sign for the bus station on the right about 500 metres further along), but once we’d confirmed the bus times we decided that the 4 hour wait for the bus wasn’t worth it and that a taxi was a reasonable compromise. We then had the struggle of explaining where we wanted to go – the locals couldn’t understand our pronunciation of “Vonitsa” but managed to work it out from the Earthwatch briefing! We’d just negotiated the fee (€75 for the 3 of us) when another person walked up and said she wanted to go to Vonitsa as well – it turned out to be Eliza, one of the staff members on the project, so she joined up with us (4 people in a taxi must be a fair environmental compromise!). The taxi was a little cramped, but less so than the train from Paris!
One scary journey later (we both closed our eyes for most of the journey, but Claire and Eliza both seemed a little shaken…) we arrived in Vonitsa (in one piece!) – only 44 hours after leaving home! Was it worth it – yes, we think so, we definitely feel much more relaxed and rested than on any previous project! However, we could perhaps have eaten slightly more healthily…..
So, our first priority on reaching Vonitsa was to get some proper food!!! Luckily, the meeting point is a taverna on the sea front. Unluckily, it didn’t open for what seemed like a lifetime!!!!! But eventually we were served with a great greek salad, chips, pita and tzatsiki – our first proper meal since breakfast on Sunday!
At about 1 o’clock the other 2 volunteers – Taran and Lauren, both American – reached the rendezvous, then at 2 o’clock Joan and Malvina (the lead scientist and another staff member) turned up and showed us to the house. Joan proudly showed off the improvements to the house since June – a mirror in the volunteers’ loft, screens for the sleeping area, both fridges now working, a new cooker (donated by another volunteer), a handle on the door to the main room (so no need to keep track of the keys any more) – definite improvements to what was already a very nice home.
For the rest of the day we had introductions, briefing, tour of the town (including of course the police station and health centre!), quick visit to Remezzos (no chocolate milkshakes again!!!!!) then dinner – pasta a la Joan, very tasty. Then, early to bed in preparation for an early start in the morning.
Luckily we all got back to sleep, and woke up at 5:30 as planned. We heard the announcement that we were just about to arrive somewhere (we couldn’t actually understand the announcement…) so we put all our bags together and started to leave the room. Luckily (again) the purser pointed out that we had actually just arrived at Corfu….
So, after a quick granola bar for breakfast (the restaurant was, of course, closed…) we arrived in Igoumentisa shortly after 7am – and confirmed with the purser that this was definitely Igoumentisa!!! Only one stage of the journey left…
Our original plan was to get the bus from Igoumentisa to Lefkada, then taxi from Lefkada to Vonitsa (as we knew that the bus times from Lefkada wouldn’t get us to the rendezvous on time). We managed to find the bus station (turn left outside the ferry port and watch for the somewhat hidden sign for the bus station on the right about 500 metres further along), but once we’d confirmed the bus times we decided that the 4 hour wait for the bus wasn’t worth it and that a taxi was a reasonable compromise. We then had the struggle of explaining where we wanted to go – the locals couldn’t understand our pronunciation of “Vonitsa” but managed to work it out from the Earthwatch briefing! We’d just negotiated the fee (€75 for the 3 of us) when another person walked up and said she wanted to go to Vonitsa as well – it turned out to be Eliza, one of the staff members on the project, so she joined up with us (4 people in a taxi must be a fair environmental compromise!). The taxi was a little cramped, but less so than the train from Paris!
One scary journey later (we both closed our eyes for most of the journey, but Claire and Eliza both seemed a little shaken…) we arrived in Vonitsa (in one piece!) – only 44 hours after leaving home! Was it worth it – yes, we think so, we definitely feel much more relaxed and rested than on any previous project! However, we could perhaps have eaten slightly more healthily…..
So, our first priority on reaching Vonitsa was to get some proper food!!! Luckily, the meeting point is a taverna on the sea front. Unluckily, it didn’t open for what seemed like a lifetime!!!!! But eventually we were served with a great greek salad, chips, pita and tzatsiki – our first proper meal since breakfast on Sunday!
At about 1 o’clock the other 2 volunteers – Taran and Lauren, both American – reached the rendezvous, then at 2 o’clock Joan and Malvina (the lead scientist and another staff member) turned up and showed us to the house. Joan proudly showed off the improvements to the house since June – a mirror in the volunteers’ loft, screens for the sleeping area, both fridges now working, a new cooker (donated by another volunteer), a handle on the door to the main room (so no need to keep track of the keys any more) – definite improvements to what was already a very nice home.
For the rest of the day we had introductions, briefing, tour of the town (including of course the police station and health centre!), quick visit to Remezzos (no chocolate milkshakes again!!!!!) then dinner – pasta a la Joan, very tasty. Then, early to bed in preparation for an early start in the morning.
Day 0 – The Epic Journey Continued
After a fairly restless night (the beds weren’t too bad, although the “sheets” the train company provided were somewhat unusual!) we arrived in Milan Central just before 6am.
Another error became evident – we had expected to get breakfast at Milan Central station – the only problem was there was 1 small kiosk open which had an incredibly long queue – so we ended up with more fruit pastilles for breakfast!
We found our seats and settled down to read more Harry Potter - The Deathly Hallows (or Elaine and Claire did – Richard had to settle for “Tescopoly” as the others are making him wait for one of them to finish before he can read their copy)! We did try to get a slightly healthier breakfast from the buffet car, unfortunately it was closed for the whole journey! But, a trolley did eventually reach us and so we had some slightly dodgy cheese & ham rolls which worryingly had a shelf life of at least 10 days…
The journey to Brindisi (near the bottom of the heel of Italy) took 9 hours and entailed Elaine losing 3 games of Yahtzee (2 to Claire and 1 to Richard) and all of us consuming 1 bag of fruit pastilles, 1 bag of strawberry sours, a dodgy roll each and a bag of maltesers! We decided that as the fruit sweets contained ‘real fruit juices’ they would count as one of our ‘5-a-day’!!! Claire who is a doctor confirmed this, so it must be true… It rained heavily most of the way down Italy so it was really quite like being at home!
Eventually we arrived at Brindisi and successfully got off the train – this was a little stressful as the announcements which had begun in English as well as Italian had become Italian only, so we weren’t really sure when Brindisi was nearby! Point to note for anyone doing this journey – take a list of stations or a map with you so you know exactly where you are!
So the one part of the journey we all seemed to forget to research and plan was how to get from Brindisi train station to the ferry port! So we simply walked in the direction of the sea (basically, directly opposite the exit from the train station, then keep walking in a straight line) – this seemed to work, and we found some occasional (but not very large) signposts to Greece!
With 7 hours to kill in Brindisi we thought we would treat our bodies to a decent meal – although given our recent culinary delights we agreed we’d settle for any kind of meal! You would think this would be a simple thing to do in Italy – but unfortunately not! We found lots of bars – all of just seemed to sell beer and ice-cream... We thought ice cream by itself might be pushing the sugar levels a little high, so we managed to find a bar which sold bits of greasy pizza as well, and so our evening meal consisted of a small piece of pizza – but we caved in and had an ice-cream as well!
Fortunately we were accosted by some Australians who were looking for the shuttle to the ferry – which we didn’t know existed. After working out that we were getting a later ferry than them, we found out that there is a shuttle to the ferry which runs ‘every now and then’.
We found the shuttle stop (cunningly marked by a green clock and an advert for a sex shop – although the shop we asked for directions only referred to the clock, which was far less obvious!) and were told by a local that the next bus would arrive in 10 minutes – about 45 minutes later it turned up and we travelled the 5 miles to the ferry port. Considering we were going to try and walk this – we were glad we didn’t!
After a brief wait in the waiting area (again, not very much in the way of proper food…) we were allowed to board the ferry and quickly managed to find our room – much more luxurious than the train! We went for the slightly more expensive option of a 4-berth cabin to ourselves – very comfortable and with on-suite toilet and shower (albeit a slightly leaky shower). We thought about getting some proper food, but since the restaurant was closed we couldn’t! (Apparently it opens some time after departure, but since we were asleep before we left port we had no chance of getting a meal!) So, after a couple of drinks in the bar and a quick cheese pasty we retired to our cabin and quickly managed to fall asleep – in fact, none of us noticed the boat leaving port!
Another error became evident – we had expected to get breakfast at Milan Central station – the only problem was there was 1 small kiosk open which had an incredibly long queue – so we ended up with more fruit pastilles for breakfast!
We found our seats and settled down to read more Harry Potter - The Deathly Hallows (or Elaine and Claire did – Richard had to settle for “Tescopoly” as the others are making him wait for one of them to finish before he can read their copy)! We did try to get a slightly healthier breakfast from the buffet car, unfortunately it was closed for the whole journey! But, a trolley did eventually reach us and so we had some slightly dodgy cheese & ham rolls which worryingly had a shelf life of at least 10 days…
The journey to Brindisi (near the bottom of the heel of Italy) took 9 hours and entailed Elaine losing 3 games of Yahtzee (2 to Claire and 1 to Richard) and all of us consuming 1 bag of fruit pastilles, 1 bag of strawberry sours, a dodgy roll each and a bag of maltesers! We decided that as the fruit sweets contained ‘real fruit juices’ they would count as one of our ‘5-a-day’!!! Claire who is a doctor confirmed this, so it must be true… It rained heavily most of the way down Italy so it was really quite like being at home!
Eventually we arrived at Brindisi and successfully got off the train – this was a little stressful as the announcements which had begun in English as well as Italian had become Italian only, so we weren’t really sure when Brindisi was nearby! Point to note for anyone doing this journey – take a list of stations or a map with you so you know exactly where you are!
So the one part of the journey we all seemed to forget to research and plan was how to get from Brindisi train station to the ferry port! So we simply walked in the direction of the sea (basically, directly opposite the exit from the train station, then keep walking in a straight line) – this seemed to work, and we found some occasional (but not very large) signposts to Greece!
With 7 hours to kill in Brindisi we thought we would treat our bodies to a decent meal – although given our recent culinary delights we agreed we’d settle for any kind of meal! You would think this would be a simple thing to do in Italy – but unfortunately not! We found lots of bars – all of just seemed to sell beer and ice-cream... We thought ice cream by itself might be pushing the sugar levels a little high, so we managed to find a bar which sold bits of greasy pizza as well, and so our evening meal consisted of a small piece of pizza – but we caved in and had an ice-cream as well!
Fortunately we were accosted by some Australians who were looking for the shuttle to the ferry – which we didn’t know existed. After working out that we were getting a later ferry than them, we found out that there is a shuttle to the ferry which runs ‘every now and then’.
We found the shuttle stop (cunningly marked by a green clock and an advert for a sex shop – although the shop we asked for directions only referred to the clock, which was far less obvious!) and were told by a local that the next bus would arrive in 10 minutes – about 45 minutes later it turned up and we travelled the 5 miles to the ferry port. Considering we were going to try and walk this – we were glad we didn’t!
After a brief wait in the waiting area (again, not very much in the way of proper food…) we were allowed to board the ferry and quickly managed to find our room – much more luxurious than the train! We went for the slightly more expensive option of a 4-berth cabin to ourselves – very comfortable and with on-suite toilet and shower (albeit a slightly leaky shower). We thought about getting some proper food, but since the restaurant was closed we couldn’t! (Apparently it opens some time after departure, but since we were asleep before we left port we had no chance of getting a meal!) So, after a couple of drinks in the bar and a quick cheese pasty we retired to our cabin and quickly managed to fall asleep – in fact, none of us noticed the boat leaving port!
Day -1 - Leaving England
After the usual last minute work panic, we finally left home just before noon on Sunday 19 August. We had hoped to complete the whole journey on public transport, but due to our lovely English summer weather we decided to take a lift to the station!
Our first train journey went well and we arrived at Finsbury Park on time; after struggling across London with our heavy bags we reached Waterloo with nearly 90 minutes to spare before our train to Paris. Oh well, better early than late! We bought some currency at Waterloo and learned an important lesson – always get the currency beforehand as the rates at Waterloo are terrible! We also had to fight to get reasonably sized notes – they tried to persuade us to take a €200 note!
Claire turned up well on time as well so we checked into Eurostar well before the 30 minute deadline – but we didn’t have too long to wait before we could board the train. We were a little disappointed by the Eurostar train – very little legroom and it seemed very dated – but we arrived in Paris on time and managed to find our way across Paris (metro M4 to Chatelet, then M14 to Bercy) – the only slight hassle being that the turnstiles were a little small for our bag!
We had planned on getting something to eat at Bercy as we had an hour or so to wait there. This was our first mistake – Bercy is a tiny station, particularly for an international terminal! There are almost as many facilities at Sandy station!
Our train soon pulled into the station and we located carriage 89 (strange numbering system – the train definitely didn’t have 89 carriages!) and our 6-berth couchette. We struggled a little to get all our luggage into the compartment, but had just managed to do so when another passenger turned up – we had hoped for a compartment to ourselves. Oh well, at least it lived up to the Hogswart Express image Elaine and Claire had expected! Unfortunately another 2 passengers then turned up, both with lots of luggage so we had a somewhat cramped journey to Milan. The other passengers did however prove to have one useful function – they managed to convert the seats into beds! We had been wondering how to do that…
We finally went to bed about 10pm – our only evening meal having been a box of Pringles and a few too many fruit pastilles and liquorice allsorts. Unfortunately, our co-passengers (who appear never to have met before!) seemed to get on far too well and decided to keep talking for what seemed like seemed like hours!
Our first train journey went well and we arrived at Finsbury Park on time; after struggling across London with our heavy bags we reached Waterloo with nearly 90 minutes to spare before our train to Paris. Oh well, better early than late! We bought some currency at Waterloo and learned an important lesson – always get the currency beforehand as the rates at Waterloo are terrible! We also had to fight to get reasonably sized notes – they tried to persuade us to take a €200 note!
Claire turned up well on time as well so we checked into Eurostar well before the 30 minute deadline – but we didn’t have too long to wait before we could board the train. We were a little disappointed by the Eurostar train – very little legroom and it seemed very dated – but we arrived in Paris on time and managed to find our way across Paris (metro M4 to Chatelet, then M14 to Bercy) – the only slight hassle being that the turnstiles were a little small for our bag!
We had planned on getting something to eat at Bercy as we had an hour or so to wait there. This was our first mistake – Bercy is a tiny station, particularly for an international terminal! There are almost as many facilities at Sandy station!
Our train soon pulled into the station and we located carriage 89 (strange numbering system – the train definitely didn’t have 89 carriages!) and our 6-berth couchette. We struggled a little to get all our luggage into the compartment, but had just managed to do so when another passenger turned up – we had hoped for a compartment to ourselves. Oh well, at least it lived up to the Hogswart Express image Elaine and Claire had expected! Unfortunately another 2 passengers then turned up, both with lots of luggage so we had a somewhat cramped journey to Milan. The other passengers did however prove to have one useful function – they managed to convert the seats into beds! We had been wondering how to do that…
We finally went to bed about 10pm – our only evening meal having been a box of Pringles and a few too many fruit pastilles and liquorice allsorts. Unfortunately, our co-passengers (who appear never to have met before!) seemed to get on far too well and decided to keep talking for what seemed like seemed like hours!
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